As You Walk On By Will You Call My Name?
by jenn7205
Summary: A possibility of what could've happened after detention, centered around everyone's favourite couple, Claire and Bender. Rated T for language.
1. Actions Speak Louder Than Words

**AN: This is my first fanfic EVER, so reviews would be highly appreciated. ;D**

**DISCLAIMER: If I owned The Breakfast Club, I wouldn't write a fanfiction, would I?**

* * *

Claire Standish was teen royalty at Shermer High School. She had more friends than anyone, and was involved in all of the prep clubs. Everyone knew her, or at least pretended to know her, easily making her the most popular girl at school. To say the least, she had built up quite the reputation.

Was she really willing to sacrifice everything for _John Bender?_

More importantly, would he give up his rep as the school's bad boy, just for her? Had their episode in the closet on Saturday meant anything to him, or was she just another girl he "considered", another picture in his wallet? He didn't even believe in "one guy one girl," so why should she expect him to openly express his feelings? And if he wasn't going to, there was no way in hell she was going to show him how crazy she was for him.

And even more importantly, what was going to happen now, with the rest of The Breakfast Club? They had all shared so much during detention, and Claire wanted to remain friends (or in Bender's case, more than friends) with them, but it was easier said than done. She wanted to change, she really did, but she wasn't sure if she was strong enough. It seemed simple when it was only the five of them, but out in the real world, it was different. It was hard breaking stereotypes, especially with her group of friends. She tried to imagine her introducing them to Brian or Allison, but she just didn't see her friends accepting them. She pictured walking down the hallways, arm in arm with Bender, but once again, she saw the same outcome. It seemed very unlikely she'd have the courage to stand up for her new friends, especially if Bender didn't want to be "an item." What she was most afraid of, was that she'd work up the guts and finally tell her "friends" off, only to find that Bender wouldn't do the same for her, and she'd be alone.

And it was for this reason that when she walked into school on Monday morning, her stomach was full of butterflies. She headed towards her locker, finding herself scanning the hall for Bender along the way. She spotted Andy and Allison, and to her surprise they were hand in hand. _"Kudos to them," _thought Claire. She was impressed they had the courage to be this open about their relationship. She wanted Bender like this, and if she was 100% sure he wanted the same thing, she'd stand up to her friends, all she wanted was him for herself.

Andy waved at her, and Allison greeted her in her own weird way; by blowing her bangs out of her face and half smiling. Claire waved back at both of them, not paying any attention to her surroundings, or who could have been watching.

At that moment, she was approached by her "best friend", Jane.

"Uh, Claire? Did you just wave at that freak?"

"Uh.." Claire didn't know what to say. Thankfully Jane cut her off.

"And can you believe her and Andy are _dating!?_"

Claire was once again left speechless. She knew what she wanted to say; that she was happy for Andy and Allison, and that she thought they were cute in their own, odd sort of way, but all she could manage was, "Um.."

Good job, Claire, way to stand up.

Jane looked at her with an expression of confusion, but shook it off. "Come on," she said, grabbing Claire's hand. "We're gonna be late for first period."

And with that, Claire was dragged towards her locker.

* * *

Claire hadn't known it, but John Bender had been watching the entire time. He had been planning on speaking to her, but every time he'd work up the guts, he'd chicken out. He was scared shitless. He'd smoked half a pack this morning before he even got to school, just to calm his nerves. What was up with him? He never acted like this around women. Maybe it was because she was the fucking prom queen, and he was what, trash? Andy's cruel words from detention replayed in his mind.

"_You know, Bender...you don't even count. I mean if you disappeared forever it wouldn't make any difference. You may as well not even exist at this school."_

So why should he expect her to change, just for him? He wasn't worth it. He knew damn well he wasn't worth it. He wondered why he ever got his hopes so fucking high, that a real woman like Claire would actually consider him. What happened on Saturday had probably meant nothing to her, or at least not enough to do anything about it.

Just thinking about Saturday made him hot.

_Claire leaned forward and kissed his neck, leaving him paralyzed._

"_Why'd you do that?" he asked, staring wide-eyed at her, face frozen in an expression of shock mixed with pure delight. She smiled._

"_Because I knew you wouldn't."_

Fuck, he was so hot for her. He'd had many chicks, but Claire was a real woman. There was something about her, he claimed she was a tease, but he kind of liked it. He knew he didn't deserve her, but he needed her, right now. He knew it was pointless, and not to mention fucking stupid, but Christ, she looked hot today. He had the urge to go up and kiss her, right then and there, get all the secrecy shit out of the way.

Except she probably didn't want that. No fuck it, he knew she didn't want that. He didn't want to ruin her rep, if it meant more to her than him. If she cared about him, she'd have to make the first move.

But there was nothing wrong with just walking by.. right? He loved the way those jeans fit her, and he just had to get a closer look.

He spotted her at her locker, pretending to be interested in something one of the rich bitches was blabbing on about. He gave himself a pep talk, to try and calm his nerves. "Okay champ, you can do this. Just get in, get out, no one gets hurt."

With a flick of his head, he shook his hair out of his face, popped his collar, and proceeded to strut down the hallway, in the general direction of Claire's locker. He hoped to God he didn't look half as nervous as he felt.

* * *

Claire was rummaging through her locker, not paying attention in the least to what Jane had been talking about for the past five minutes. Every now and then, when she'd notice Jane pause in the midst of her rambling, she'd add a remark like "yeah," or "I know!"

Truth was, John was on her mind. She had really hoped to see him before classes started, just to prove that Saturday hadn't just been a figment of her imagination.

She noticed Jane had stopped speaking, and was staring at Claire, expecting a response of some sort. _"Shit,"_ thought Claire.

"Totally," she said, hoping it was the right answer. Jane's eyes widened in shock, making it clear she'd been wrong.

"Claire, do you realize you just said that you think I'm a bitch?"

"Oh," said Claire, shaking her head, "no, you're not a bitch…"

Claire trailed off, because she noticed a dark figure approaching from behind Jane.

It was none other than John Bender.

He looked especially sexy today, for some reason. Maybe it was the way his shaggy hair fell around his face, or his clothes, which hung off his shoulders in a most flattering way. He strutted down the hall like he owned the place, and Claire admired his attitude.

It suddenly dawned on her that he was heading towards her. She felt her heat beat twice its normal rate, and had no idea what to do. Was she supposed to approach him, talk to him in public? Or was she supposed to ignore him, so his rep as the school's biggest badass wouldn't be sabotaged? As he came closer, she noticed he was staring directly at her, so ignoring him wouldn't be an option.

She saw the corners of his mouth twitch upward into a smile, the smile that set off butterflies in her stomach. She instantly found she was smiling back. He gave her a nod, then looked her up and down, immediately making her blush. Her gaze dropped to the floor, and when it returned to his face, she saw he was grinning, which made her blush even more. She wanted him to come over to her, pick her up and kiss right in front of everyone, and be done with it. But she knew that'd never happen, John Bender didn't work like that. As he passed her, she felt the back of his hand brush hers. This shot a tingly feeling through her entire body, and the sensation was amazing. Before she knew it, he had passed her completely, and has he was walking away she hadn't hesitated in sneaking a glimpse of his backside.

"Hellooo? Claire?" Jane's words broke into her thoughts.

"Huh?" replied Claire, snapping out of her trance.

"What is _up _with you today!? First you wave at that weirdo, and now you're checking out _John Bender?_"

Claire was becoming annoyed with Jane. She was in such a good mood, she didn't need this right now. "I wasn't checking him out!"

"Whatever, Claire." And with that, the bell rang and Jane stormed off angrily.

But Claire couldn't care less. Without even exchanging words, she'd just had the best conversation of her life. It showed he cared, and now she couldn't possibly regret what happened Saturday.

And she was certain that neither could he.

* * *

**Please R&R, and critisizm is welcome, as long as it's constructive.  
I'll update as often as I can. (:**


	2. What Can I Say?

**A/N: Thank you all for the lovely reviews!  
A special thanks to rylyxo4 for her idea, I sort of _kind of_ used it. You'll see ;)**

**Disclaimer: The Breakfast Club is like, waaay too awesome for me to have come up with it, basically.**

* * *

Claire took her time getting to class. The first subject she had was English, and since none of her friends were in that class, she didn't really mind being late. In fact, she liked missing as much of it as possible. It's not that she hated being alone, it's just that the class was extremely boring anyway. It was taught by Mrs. Power, an elderly woman who had no fashion sense to speak of, lipstick-stained teeth, and a voice that made Claire want to stick pins in her eyes. She usually took a seat in the back near the window, so she could gaze out, imagining she were out there in that sky, on a plane to France. Or occasionally doing something productive, such as filing her nails, for instance.

She continued down the hall, somewhat daydreaming about Bender, and thinking about how every time she saw him, she got this feeling in her stomach. It wasn't just your average butterflies, it was more like butterflies on crack, fluttering up a storm and crashing into one another causing chaos inside her. She absent-mindedly wondered what he was doing now.

Little did she know, she was about to find out.

When she finally reached the door to Mrs. Power's English class, the class had already started. Mrs. Power was writing something on the board and droning on about something or other, and Claire figured this was the perfect time to sneak in.

Her eyes immediately flickered to her usual seat, which was empty. She was about to make her move, when something caught her eye. A familiar face in the crowd.

It was the second time John Bender had surprised her that day. He was sitting right next to the window seat. Right next to _her _window seat.

He was going to be sitting by her.

There was no way he could've known, could he? She didn't think he even took this class, she'd never seen him here before. Was she _allowed_ to sit by him? Would he care what people thought? Shit, what do I do?

In pondering this information, Claire hadn't realized she was staring, transfixed at the door. She was attracting attention, and eventually even Mrs. Power noticed.

"Mrs. Standish?" Mrs. Power's monotone voice went right through her.

"Huh?" she replied, embarrassed. That was the second time today she'd made a fool of herself in front of him, and it was only five minutes into first period.

Excellent.

"Is there a problem?"

"Oh, no Mrs. Power, I was just- "

"And why are you late _this_ time?"

"Well, you see.." Claire racked her brain for any excuse she could think of that she hadn't used last week. She drew a blank.

"On second thought," sighed Mrs. Power, "never mind. Take your seat Claire."

She immediately went to the back of the room, red with embarrassment, and wanting more than anything just to disappear.

Bender made it pretty clear that he wasn't going to let that happen, however. As she approached him, he smirked, and saluted her, making her blush even deeper. She realized that he made her blush quite often.

She settled into her desk, and was prepared to start daydreaming, when something landed on her desk. It was a ball of paper, and she didn't need to guess who it was from.

She looked at him, pointing at the ball and raising an eyebrow. He nodded towards it, motioning for her to read it. She rolled her eyes, but smiled in spite of herself, and uncrumpled the paper.

_**So, you're stalking me now?**_

Ugh. As if. She immediately wrote back.

_If I don't recall correctly, _you _were the one who walked by _me_ in the hall this morning. Also since when are you in this class?_

She crumpled it up and tossed the ball back at his desk, to which it was quickly returned.

_**Since September, I just never show up. It's a fucking waste of time.**_

He had a point.

_Agreed._

The ball landed on her desk once again, and she was mortified at what was written.

_**So I heard you were checking me out earlier?**_

She was going to kill Jane. She convinced herself she was being ridiculous. There was no way he could've heard that, right? He was probably just making things up to get under her skin.

_What are you talking about? No I wasn't._

_**Nice try, Cherry, but I overheard your little conversation with one of the Richies this morning. But hey, it's nothing to be embarrassed about, I mean it's hard to resist my hot bod..**_

A laugh escaped her lips, and a couple of students surrounding her turned to look, but Mrs. Power didn't seem to notice. She wrote back.

_Oh don't flatter yourself. Plus it's not like you weren't doing the same thing to me. I actually _saw _you._

She saw him crack a smile after reading what she'd written, and she couldn't wait to see his response.

_**What if I was just being polite?**_

_What if you actually like me?_

She couldn't believe she'd written that. She flicked it towards him before she changed her mind. Once again he cracked a smile, and to her delight, this time she saw him laugh silently before writing back.

_**What can I say, Princess? **_

She beamed at his response. She was about to ask him what he was going to do about it, when things took a turn for the worst.

"Miss Standish?"

"Y-yes?" she replied, scrambling to hide the note.

"What have you got there?"

"Um, home..work?"

Mrs. Power looked at Claire in disbelief.

Bender spoke up. "Doris?"

She turned to look at him. "Mr. Bender, I am your teacher, and you are not to refer to me as my first name."

"'Scuse me, teach?"

This got a rise out of the students. She crossed her arms and gave him a stern look. He continued.

"I think it's safe to say you are violating the privacy of poor Claire here."

Claire stared at him, jaw slightly dropped, amazed that he was standing up for her. She quickly snapped out of it, and turned to Mrs. Power and nodded.

"Mr. Bender, this is none of your business."

"Oh but I think it is, I don't think Dick would be too happy to find out that the privacy of one of his students is being breached, no less by a _teacher_."

Once again, the classroom erupted into a fit of giggles.

"_Mr. Bender,_ I suggest you start paying me more respect, or _I'll _have a little something to tell Mr. Vernon. How does detention on Saturday sound?"

"I've already got it for on every Saturday 2 months, mam. I'm free on Sundays though, besides church, of course."

Again, laughter filled the classroom.

"One more word, Mr. Bender, and I swear.."

Claire looked at him, and shook her head. He shrugged his shoulders, and once again faced Mrs. Power. Claire cringed, knowing he wasn't done, and sank into her seat, her hand covering her face.

"I'm just looking out for my fellow students, Doris."

"OUT."

However, as soon as the words came out of her mouth, the bell rang, signaling the end of class.

He smirked, and gave a curt nod of his head, to flick his hair out of his face.

"I was just leaving."

As he stood up and walked away, Claire once again admired his attitude, (among other things).

She realized she was frozen in her seat, and not wanting to be alone with Mrs. Power after _that_, she quickly gathered her things and left.

That was definitely the best English class she'd ever had, but she was still slightly disappointed. John had told her he liked her, but she still didn't know what was going to happen now. She was planning on asking him, she really was, and she also wanted to thank him for most likely saving her from another detention.

For now, she was just happy she had reason to talk to him again.

* * *

**A/N: Please review, and once again, critisizm is always appreciated.  
Also let me know what you guys might want to see happen, and I'll see what I can do. ;)**


	3. On To Something?

**A/N: Thank you all for your lovely reviews and suggestions!  
Here's a longer chapter for you, featuring more of our lovable BC characters. ;D**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own The Breakfast Club. It belongs to the very talented John Hughes. R.I.P.**

* * *

John Bender smirked as he strutted down the hall. He thanked himself for making the decision to go to English today. Who was he kidding? He _knew _she took that class. He remembered seeing her there the first (and only) class he went to, back in the beginning of the year.

He'd never let her know that, though.

He'd also never let her know how she made him feel that entire lesson. Words couldn't explain it. He'd never felt like this before, but everything about her set it off. Her expression when she first saw him. The colour of crimson her skin could turn. The words on the paper. The thought that he was touching the paper that had previously been in her hands. The way those jeans hugged her hips. The way she'd bite her lip every time she got nervous. The way she chewed on her pen, those lips wrapped around it. They way she'd lick her lips when thinking of something to say. Those lips. He'd touched those lips. He'd tasted those lips.

Shit, he was fucking losing it. All over some girl.

Girls never really mattered to him before, so why should Claire be any different? _Claire.._

He imagined walking down the halls with her, hand in hand. Kissing her at her locker. Going on dates with her, like normal people did when they liked eachother. Not having to worry about what people thought..

He shook himself out of his stupor. It would never happen. He didn't even know what she wanted from him. Pretty soon she'd probably wake up and realize she was wasting her time on him.

He suddenly wondered what he should do now. He didn't even remember what class he had, seeing as he rarely bothered to show up for school on Monday mornings. Skipping to go and smoke a few joints downtown seemed like a good idea, but he then remembered he'd smoked it all on Friday with his buddy Sam. Plus he wanted to stick around for lunch, because it gave him another chance to see Claire.

Losing it, man. Fucking losing it.

He decided to smoke his last few cigarettes out on the bleachers to pass the time until lunch. There was only two classes left, and it was better than having to actually go to two classesin a row on a fucking _Monday morning._ He shuddered at the thought.

He headed out back, but when he reached the bleachers he was surprised to find someone else sitting there.

Allison.

He almost didn't recognize her. He was used to her wearing that black shit on her eyes, and her long bangs hiding her features. But today she was wearing less makeup and her hair was out of her face. She traded in her many layers for a short sleeve, gray tee shirt, but she was still wearing her black skirt and her Chucks. She was different, but still the same Allison.

As he drew nearer to the bleachers, she noticed his presence, and gave him her trademark sideways grin. He couldn't help but smile back. He took a seat next to her. He lit up a cigarette and took a long drag on it, breathing deeply. After a few moments silence, he spoke.

"Wasn't expecting to run into _you_ out here," he mumbled. She simply shrugged in response.

"Okay, let me rephrase that," he continued. "What are you doing out here?"

"You really think _you're _the only person who comes here?" she responded.

"Did I say that?" he replied, "I wanna know why _you're_ here."

She sighed. "I confess. I wanted to talk to you, and I figured you'd be here."

Bender took another drag on his cigarette. Normally he'd find this creepy, but he'd come to expect this sort of behavior from Allison. Sure she was weird, and maybe that was why she had no friends, but she was real. There was none of that fakeness or bullshit that people like Claire and Andy were surrounded by. You could really count on Allison.

She fidgeted with her black skirt. All of a sudden she reached into her bag and pulled something out.

"Here," she said, thrusting the object toward him. He recognized it as his switchblade. So _that's_ where it was. Slightly in shock, with his eyes wide and fixed on her face, he slowly reached out and took it from her.

"Where'd you get this?" he asked, his eyes still locked on her.

"Stole it." She smirked at him. She then stared at something ahead in the distance.

He pocketed his knife, and then took another drag.

"So.." he said, exhaling his smoke, "is that all?"

She seemed to think for a moment, and then she nodded slowly, still staring ahead. She wasn't fooling him though.

"Well then, I guess I'll just go.." he started to get up when she out of the blue, she practically yelled at him.

"What are you going to do about Claire?!"

He hadn't been ready for that. He immediately stiffened, but sat back down. He flicked the ash from his cigarette onto the ground.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, his voice full of anger.

She just looked at him. It was a look that said; _"you know exactly what that means." _He couldn't argue with that look, but he could avoid the question.

"You women, you're all the same. Over-thinking things."

"I'm not over-thinking anything."

"Well then Claire is," he paused. "Did she send you up here to ask you that, huh? Did you guys have a little chat? Did she tell you I'd be out here?"

Allison returned to staring straight ahead. "No."

"Then _why_ do you care?"

"Because she's my friend."

Bender paused again to breathe deeply from his cigarette. "You think you know what she wants?"

"Yes."

"Yeah? And what is that?"

"You."

His heart sped up at this, but he forced his head out of the clouds. "How do you know this?"

She shrugged. "I don't."

He dropped the butt of his cigarette on the ground and stomped it out with his foot. After a few moments silence, he said, "If I knew what she wanted, I'd do something about it."

Allison returned her gaze to him. "Well _I_ think it's pretty obvious what you have to do."

"Oh really?" he replied, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "And what would that be?"

At that moment, the bell signaling the end of second period sounded. Allison got to her feet and picked up her bag, slinging it over her shoulder.

"Ask her."

Bender shook his head. "Nuh uh."

"It's the only way to know what she wants for sure."

"No way."

Allison shrugged and began to walk away.

"See you around, weirdo," he said, smirking at her. She half-smiled back, and continued down the path towards their prison of a school.

That Allison was smart, but there was no way he could just walk up to Claire and ask her what they were, or what he meant to her, or.. he didn't even know how to word it. Plus, if they were seen talking, that could ruin her rep, and he didn't want to do that. The whole "reputations" thing was a load of shit, but if it meant something to Claire, he didn't want to ruin it.

He leaned back against the cold, hard wood of the bleachers and lit up another cigarette, conjuring up ways to waste the last hour before lunch. He shook his head and looked at the cloud filled sky.

Maybe Allison was on to something.

* * *

Claire sighed with relief as the bell rang for third period. She bolted it out the door, happy to be free of her French class. She usually enjoyed French. None of her friends were in that class either, because none of them also shared in interest in French, but today she couldn't stop thinking about John, and her mind was anywhere but on conjugating verbs. She kept drifting into space, only to be interrupted by M. Foote yelling at her.

Since she left early for third period, she was one of the first ones to arrive at Physics class. She debated her options. She could sit in the back with her usual friends, except Jane was probably still mad at her. That meant _all _her friends would probably be mad at her. Fun.

Or she could just sit somewhere else. That sounded like a better idea. She took a seat near the front, and since she had a couple minutes to wait, whipped out a nail file and began filing her nails.

A few minutes later, people began piling into the classroom, whispering as they passed her. Claire scoffed at them. It was stupid that her choice not to sit with her friends was a huge topic of discussion. No, it was beyond stupid.

Eventually Jane and the rest of them piled in through the door. Claire immediately became aware of their eyes boring into her. As they passed by, her eyes darted from her nail file to them. Sure enough, as one by one they passed her, each gave her a dirty look. Claire rolled her eyes and stuffed her nail file back in her bag.

The funny thing was, she didn't care. They'd probably come running back to her by the end of the period anyway. Except she didn't need them, she had _real_ friends. The kind that didn't pretend to love your new sweater and then go to one of your girlfriends and rant about how ugly it is. The kind that didn't stab you in the back when you need them the most.

She had The Breakfast Club, and even if she didn't have John, she had the rest of them. Even though she wanted John. So badly.

All of a sudden, Claire realized where she was sitting. It was a desk that was usually empty, but it was right next to..

"CLAIRE!"

She turned abruptly to her right, to find Brian Johnson taking his seat, which was right next to hers. She cringed slightly. She loved Brian, but she was unsure she could handle his pep right now.

"Hi.. Brian," she responded, trying her best to look cheerful.

"Wow Claire, I didn't, I mean, uh.. I didn't think you'd, uh, have the guts to, you know, sit by me."

"Neither did I," she responded, attempting a smile.

He smiled back, and then they both faced the front as class began.

Fifteen minutes ticked by, then thirty, then forty-five. She could hear people whispering about her, now because she was talking to Brian. Claire sighed. Will it ever end?

Thankfully Brian hadn't tried to talk to her during most of the class; he was too absorbed by the white writing against the black board. Meanwhile Claire had been doodling hearts with John's name in them around the margins of her paper.

When they were given some work to complete on their own, Brian took this as an opportunity to talk to Claire.

"So, uh.. I see you still have, uh, a thing for Bender," he said, noticing her drawings. She quickly covered them up, and turned red with embarrassment.

She folded her hands into her lap and stared at them. "Yeah," she said, meeting his eyes. She felt slightly stupid, like a little girl experiencing her first crush.

She could feel the eyes of the rich bitches on the back of her skull.

"So.." she said, picking up her pen and chewing on it, "do you have a crush on anyone, Brian?"

It was his turn to blush. He looked down immediately. "No, no I do not."

"But what about that girl at Niagara Falls?"

"Oh, uh.. well, um.. you see-"

"She's not real, is she?"

Brian shook his head. "No."

Claire began to laugh, and he soon joined in.

"Claire, are you.. um, missing an earring?" he asked.

Her hand immediately flew to her empty ear. The earring. How could she have forgotten about that? She'd meant to check earlier to see if he was wearing it, to maybe give her _some_ indication of what he wanted.

She was silent, so he continued.

"Cause, well, you know.. I saw Bender wearing one just like it, and I thought, uh, you know maybe he stole it, and he was, uh.. going to sell it for, uh.. more marijuana or something-"

"Brian," she said, cutting him off, "I gave it to him."

He was wearing her earring. Her stomach did backflips, but they were short-lived, she still had no idea what he wanted.

"Oh," he said as he nodded his head, he seemed to understand. Claire smiled at him

"Claire, can I, uh, can I ask you something?" he asked.

"Sure, anything."

"Did you, uh, did you know I sat here?"

She started laughing again, and shook her head. "Nope."

He tried to suppress his laughter, but was unsuccessful. After a short silence, he spoke.

"Maybe you should, uh, you know.. tell him."

"Tell him what?"

"That you like him."

"No. I can't."

"Why not?"

Claire shook her head. Brian was so naïve. "Because, Brian, it's not that simple."

The bell rang for lunch, and they both gathered their things and got up to leave.

"Maybe it is."

And with that he left her there, frozen in surprise. She didn't even notice when Jane and her crew walked by again, dishing out more dirty looks.

No. No way. He couldn't possibly be right. This "thing" going on with her and John was anything but simple.

Then again, maybe he was on to something.

* * *

**A/N: soooo, tell me whatchu think! ;D**


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